Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Ninja Tune's Odesza return with a brand new album as well as a massive world tour to match. 'The Last Goodbye' is another record to heighten the band's their long-held standing in the progressive and ambient house netscene they occupy. Every end of musical history is traversed in this emotive future downtempo release which sinks you into deep to its mellifluous world of sound. The title track is emblematic of this as it straddles, samples and licenses an incredible old recording of soul vocalist Bettye LaVelle against a funking, flourishing instrumental backdrop. It is one of the many gems that make this so essential.

Review: Ninja Tune's Odesza return with a brand new album (and not to mention world tour), 'The Last Goodbye', owning their long-held standing in the progressive, ambient house netscene they occupy. Every end of musical history is traversed in this emotive future downtempo release; the title track is emblematic of this straddling, sampling and licensing an incredible old recording of soul vocalist Bettye LaVelle against a funking, flourishing instrumental backdrop.

Review: Having firmly established himself as one of the foremost experimental producers of the past decade with albums like Replica, Returnal, and Rifts, Daniel Lopatin here makes the logical move to electronic music bastion Warp Records. On first listen R Plus Seven is quite unlike any of his other records, largely eschewing the arpeggiated drones of his early work and sample-based collages of his last album for something much more vivid. Coming across like a combination of the emotive minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich, and the hyperreality of James Ferraro's Far Side Virtual, R Plus Seven nevertheless stakes its own claim in the world of post-everything electronic music, combining delicate, introspective moods with shocking moments of recognisable sonic signification. Quite possibly Lopatin's best album to date.

Review: Daniel Lopatin is not a new name to clued-in electronic fans at all, the American MIDI magician has been operating under the alias Oneohtrix Point Never for almost a decade and a half at this point. From working the keys for The Weeknd, going back and forth with artistic adoration to Caroline Polachek and having the late Ryuichi Sakamoto's official stamp of approval, OPN is just as impressive in the shadows as he is in the light. Again is the follow-up record to fan favourite Magic and his main focus after serving as executive producer for The Weeknd's 80s synth-wave smash 'Dawn FM'. A pared-back rollout has given way to just one single, album closer 'A Barely Lit Path'. Pretty-as-can-be strings bend the knee to blasts of digitised noise, the two dancing back and forth with one another across the rollercoaster six-minute runtime. Grandiose operatics and revered choir vocals glide over a swelling string section, pinned together with a throbbing electronic rhythm patch before collapsing into emptiness. It is majestic, emotional and nothing less than to be expected from OPN.

Review: Unusually, Optimo's JD Twitch and Jonny Wilkes have taken the unusual step of not announcing the tracklist for their two-part 25th anniversary compilation ahead of release. Ordering, then, requires a leap of faith, but given the sheer breadth, diversity and quality of the music they've been playing over the last quarter of a decade, there's no doubt we're in safe hands. It's not a 'best of Optimo anthems' collection, or merely a bunch of peak-time favourites; instead, we're promised a mixture of unusual warm-up favourites and confirmed dancefloor workouts in a wide range of style that have long been favourites of the two Glasgow-based DJs - many of which will, inevitably, be slept-on, forgotten or under-appreciated gems.

Review: Optimo's JD Twitch and Jonny Wilkes, undoubtedly the UK's most fearless and on-point 'anything goes' DJs, have spent a quarter of a decade building trust with their audience. You can never tell what they might play when you turn up at one of their events, but you know it will be inspired, high-quality, and most likely make you want to dance. With their two-part 25th anniversary compilation (this is part two), they've taken a similar approach, keeping the track-list under wraps until release day while promising a mix of oddball warm-up favourites and floor-focused tracks they love and have played at various points since the start of the century. Given their track record, we can expect forgotten gems, left-of-centre anti-anthems, and unusual party-starting delights.

Review: Offering a gentler approach than his previous releases on R.I.O. and brokntoys, Philipp Otterbach comes to Music From Memory with an album of inward ambient reflections in which the guitar takes centre stage for the first time. Otterbach's sound is broad and inquisitive, folding field recordings and snatches of speech in amongst dexterous synth lines and expressive guitar, creating a thoroughly satisfying, mellow trip through beatless pastures. The predominant mood is a hopeful, upbeat one, although shot through with a playful surrealism which keeps things interesting rather than one-dimensionally pleasant. It's as rich a listening experience as you'd expect from a Music From Memory release.Alexis 'Lex' Blackmore.

Review: Kelly Lee Owens' fourth studio album marks a significant shift in Owens' musical journey, embodying themes of freedom and escapism. Dream State emerges from a period of inner transformation following a break-up, and is a testament to collaboration, featuring producer-writer contributions from electronic music luminaries Bicep, Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers and George Daniel of The 1975. The synergy between these artists infuses Dreamstate with a rich, dynamic sound that blends Owens' ethereal vocals with innovative electronic beats and lush production. A range of emotions and sonic landscapes, offering both introspective and liberating experiences.

Review: 'Dreamstate' is Kelly Lee Owens' fourth studio album, hinting at a relatively bouncier electro-pop direction - in stark contrast to her much demurer, rougher-hewn earlier albums. Owens comments that Dreamstate is "the sound of a person letting loose and letting go while encouraging everyone else to do the same." Whether this necessarily results, for musicians, in an increased orientation towards chart-worthiness, remains to be seen, but we'd say this has certainly worked in the case of Owens, whose new forerunning singles 'Love You Got', 'Higher' and 'Sunshine' combine overcast dance productions and pristine angel voices from Owens herself, resulting in a much brighter yet equally thunderous sound, and 'Sunshine' is our favourite, future-avant progressive house number here.